Maynard James Keenan + Puscifer Ponder ‘Existential Reckoning’ with New Album, Live Stream Event (Listen)

Even when considering the mind-bending qualities of his “day job” as the front man of Tool, Maynard James Keenan scratches an even more unpredictable and irreverent creative itch with Puscifer, and on Friday the group released a new album titled Existential Reckoning.

The record was pushed to digital streaming platforms today, with a physical release coming in December.

(Click here to pre-order Existential Reckoning from our Rock Cellar Store).

One of the main focuses of Puscifer is to allow Keenan — who remains as “in the background” as possible for Tool, so much so that he often performs live in the shadows, allowing the others in the band to take full attention — to express a much more flamboyant side of himself. It’s evidenced in the quirky and very COVID-19 appropriate video for “Apocalyptical,” which Puscifer shared a few months back:

Existential Reckoning is a starkly different listening experience than that of a Tool record; that much is expected given the swath of releases that have made up the project’s previous output. Synth, backing (and sometimes lead) vocals from Carina Round and ominous compositions are the name of the game here, and in all it’s a pretty captivating collection of songs.

Stream it below, via Spotify:

To celebrate the release, Puscifer will host a special (and surely wild) live stream experience titled Live at Arcosanti, an immersive experience from the high deserts of Arizona.

More on the streaming event, per a news release:

Livestream tickets, as well as a selection of limited edition merchandise exclusive to attendees, are available now via pusciferlive.com. The livestream debuts on Oct. 30 at 3:00 pm Pacific/6:00 pm Eastern/10:00 pm UK/11:00 pm EU and remains on-demand for 72 hours.

“We could do a live stream from anywhere – a sound stage, an empty theater. But this location, at Arcosanti, in the heart of the unforgiving yet beautiful Arizona desert, adds another dimension to Puscifer’s music,” says Danny Wimmer, Founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, the largest independent festival producer in the United States and co-producers of “Existential Reckoning: Live at Arcosanti.”